It’s time to revisit the widely disseminated myth that compromise in politics and governance is the highest virtue.

Recently, I heard a television host whom I like and respect lament that Congress left town without taking action on our border crisis. Members of Congress, the argument goes, just need to get together, put aside their partisanship and get something done. After all, even couples going through an acrimonious divorce can sit down in the same room, close the doors and work out some agreement.

But getting something done isn’t always preferable to doing nothing, especially if the proposed action would make things worse. Would this host, for example, say that granting instant amnesty to every one of the people who have crossed our border illegally in this latest surge would be preferable to not acting? I pray not.

I think part of the problem is that this host assumes that President Obama shares the host’s good faith – that he wants to work with Republicans in Congress to enforce the border and properly deal with those who have entered illegally.

How do you compromise with someone who doesn’t even share your goals and who has no intention of compromising with you, even if he pretends otherwise? President Obama arguably brought on this invasion himself by issuing his lawless executive order in 2012 declaring that he would stop deporting young illegal immigrants if they met certain requirements. He sent an unmistakable signal that children entering the nation illegally would receive amnesty – and we have concrete evidence that this was a driving factor in the current border invasion.

That aside, you don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to recognize that Obama’s other behavior and actions, despite his rhetoric, make clear that he has little, if any, interest in enforcing the border. He has vigorously attacked border states, such as Arizona, that have tried to enforce their borders because Obama’s federal government refuses to do its duty. He refuses to work with Congress to take action to enforce the border, always insisting that as a condition to doing so, Congress agree to his version of “comprehensive immigration reform.” It’s not just Obama. For decades, Democrats have been promising Republicans they will cooperate to enforce the border, but they’ve steadfastly obstructed all efforts to do so.

Truth be told, Democrats mainly want to accomplish two things with respect to immigration policy: 1) to grant amnesty to as many illegal immigrants as possible because they are confident they will ultimately be Democratic voters and 2) to use the issue to slander Republicans as anti-Hispanic. If you doubt this, do a Google search sometime using the search word “nativism” – barely a euphemism for racism.

If Democratic leaders don’t actually want to protect the border, what room is there for compromise on this issue?

Most people who tout compromise and bipartisanship as wonderful goals in general are liberals, people who think like liberals or those not particularly on top of politics.

Democrats, under cover of liberal media distortion, routinely condemn the alleged partisanship of Republicans while exhibiting their own partisanship and uncompromising attitude. Obama demands that Republicans “stop just hatin’ all the time” and work with him, all while mocking their proposals and fomenting public hatred against Republicans.

Obama casts Ronald Reagan conservatives as extremists, ridicules and taunts them, and then demands they work with him – to achieve his ends, not theirs.

On this very border issue, Obama berated Republicans for not working with him and in the next breath said that all they need to do is pass his $3.7 billion bill to deal with the problem. He did not say, “We can start with my proposal, listen to the Republicans’ suggestions to modify it and agree on a compromise.” His idea of compromise is that Republicans accept his proposal in full, no changes. This is the type of man we are dealing with. There is no compromising in him.

Obama and his party use demands for compromise as a weapon against Republicans to achieve their own political ends – without compromise. Just this week, Obama repeated that he doesn’t want to issue executive orders on immigration but that he will be forced to if Republicans won’t work with him. Has any other president advanced this absurd argument that Congress’ refusal to bend to his dictates would justify his usurpation of Congress’ Article 1 legislative authority? This is breathtaking in its transparent cynicism.

President Obama is anything but a bipartisan politician interested in compromise. He is an ideologue determined to accomplish his policy goals by whatever means it takes, including using compromise as a blunt propaganda tool to achieve his way – period, rather than as a process to meet his political opponents halfway.

Compromise, especially when dealing with an unbending ideologue and propagandist like Obama, is no virtue.

Republicans should pursue what is best for America and the American people, and that means working within the system and rule of law – though Obama refuses to – to defeat and thwart Obama’s destructive agenda.

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